The FBR Ltd (ASX: FBR) share price has been a positive performer this morning.
In early trade the robotics company's shares have rocketed 30% higher to 9.5 cents.
Why is the FBR share price on the rise today?
This morning FBR, formerly known as Fastbrick Robotics, announced that it has commenced its incorporated joint venture with Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW) subsidiary Brickworks Building Products.
According to the release, the two companies have established Fastbrick Australia as a special-purpose joint venture company with 50/50 ownership between the parties.
The joint venture will provide Wall as a Service to the Australian market and is expected to commence operations shortly with a focus on residential construction.
How does the joint venture work?
Management advised that Brickworks will provide valuable block development services to develop blocks suitable for laying with the Hadrian X bricklaying robot and will have the exclusive right to supply those blocks to Fastbrick Australia within Australia.
Whereas FBR will have the exclusive rights to supply laying services to Fastbrick Australia within Australia through the use of the Hadrian X robot.
In addition to this, Fastbrick Australia will engage with builders to provide Wall as a Service for residential homes in Australia via commercial building contracts.
These Wall as a Service activities are expected to generate the first operating revenues from the commercialisation of FBR's innovative robotic bricklaying technology.
FBR's chief executive officer, Mike Pivac, was very pleased to have a joint venture partner of Brickworks' calibre and appears optimistic on its prospects.
He said: "We are very pleased to have a joint venture partner in Australia with the reputation and scale of Brickworks to jointly offer Wall as a Service to the Australian market. Fastbrick Australia provides FBR with an opportunity in Australia to demonstrate the capabilities of the Hadrian X with the new optimised blocks developed with Brickworks and also to demonstrate and test our business model for the commercialisation of Wall as a Service, which we intend to scale on a global basis. We are looking forward to commencing our first builds on residential sites with the Hadrian X."
Should you invest?
I think this is great news for the company and so I'm not surprised to see its shares race higher today.
However, it is still early days and a touch too soon for an investment for me. I would suggest investors keep their powder dry and see how the joint venture develops over the next 12-18 months before considering an investment.
